The ford at Lossnig

In the real battle all the watercourses were swollen so the Austrian were forced to attack the bridges at Connewitz and Dolitz. In the search for a crossing point, the Austrians also probed towards Lossnig, a small village located in the right bank, between Connewitz and Dolitz. However, and according to Nafziger, "the woods and swamps prevented their crossing at Lossnig".
I have replaced the Lossnig bridge by a ford, but its condition is unknown until Austrian troops arrive on it. Throw 1D6: on a roll of 5 or higher the ford is available and can be crossed.

Optional rules for Connewitz

I play solo, so I don't like frontal battles without random surprises. However, Connewitz is a battle without flanks. With both sides separated by an unpassable river, the objective of the Austrians is to cross it whereas the Polish/French are trying to impede it. Therefore, there are few 'surprises' available, but I have devised the following, to add some fun:

Objectives
The bridges at Connewitz and Dölitz were the main targets for the Austrian forces. They must be captured intact or be bridged when the game ends.

Additional French Reinforcements: The Old Guard
The Curial’s 2nd Old Guard Division (a mix of French Middle Guards and Italian/German Guards) took part in the fight in the southern part of the actual battlefield during the last stages of the combats. In this Scenario they are also available but they can only enter the tablegame, if the Austrians take Connewitz or/and Dölitz, at A1/A2/A3/A4 (25% / 25% / 25% / 25%).
Brigade Rousseau (+1/*)
- Velites of Turin Valiant/Experienced/SK2/Guard
- Velites of Florence Valiant/Experienced/SK2/Guard
- Polish Guard Valiant/Experienced/SK2/Guard
- Westphalian Guard Reliable/Amateur/SK1/Guard

French deployment and broken bridges
In the actual battle, the bridges around Connewitz were broken whereas the ones around Dölitz were left intact by the Polish. In this Scenario, the state of the bridges is unknown in advance. Prior to the deployment, the French must roll 1D6 to establish the state of each of the four bridges over the Pleisse River branch. Each bridge is broken on a roll of 4 or higher.
An intact bridge can be demolished in any moment by the French player, by following the Demolition Lasalle procedure (See p. 78 of Lasalle book).
Take in account that an intact bridge implies that the French/Polish units can deploy in the opposite (western) river bank.

Austrian bridging train
In the actual battle, the Austrian commander thrown a bridge in the Markleeberg area (upstream and out of the table) and the Austrians crossed to the right (French) bank, with Meerfeldt (the II Corps's Austrian commander) being taken prisoner during the action.
The bridging train, if this option is chosen, is an independent reinforcement unit, and must enter the table at the D3 end-road. Only a pontoon bridge unit is available to the Austrians, and the Pleisse branch needs four successful engineering test to be spanned, whereas the minor branch needs only two (See p. 78 of Lasalle book)

And now for the miniatures!

The terrain for Connewitz

The terrain around the Connewitz-Dölitz has changed with the years. After the second World War, there was some extensive lignit extractive mining works in the area between the Pleisse and Elster rivers, so the terrain shape is irreversibly changed. Some villages have dissapeared, whereas the remaining ones have grown. The shape of the main branchs of the Pleisse River is still recognizable, but the minor ones and the mill races can be not found today.
After an internet research, I found a map in the http://napoleonistyka.atspace.com/ site, one of the better internet sources for the Battle of Nations. The map covers the Markleeberg-Dölitz area and also shows the initial dispositions of French-Polish and Austrians forces.

The table-map for Lasalle has been desgined by using the above map. The map was rotated near 90º and the terrain scale changed until the villages, Connewitz and Dölitz, were located near the table borders. The final result is:


The more significant features, the villages, the bridges, the Dölitz manor, the swampy areas, are present. However, the final shape would change because of the fog of war, i.e. because of the actual availability of terrain features!

Connewitz OOB for Lasalle

This is the first version of the OOB for the Lasalle refight of Connewitz- Dölitz, the south-western section of the Leipzig battefield during 16th October 1813, the first day of the battle. The engaged forces are of small size, so this is almost a typical Lasalle battle.
Whereas there were only Austrian troops in the Allied side, the 'French' side was composed from French, Polish and Rhine Confederation units. At last, I used the Polish list in the Lasalle web site to built the basic force, using the "French Conscript 1813" as Allied.
I have modified slightly the 'Liberation' lists for both sides in order to use forces, whose number and composition were similar to the actual units fighting in October 1813. The statistics of the Subcommanders have been diced out according to the ruleset.

Austrian Forces 2nd Army Abteilung.
Army Moral 48 Break point 16 (14 Battalions/2 Regiments/3 Batteries)
Commander: General der Kavallerie Graf Meerfeldt (-/*)

1st Division: Feldmarschal-lieutenant Ignaz Lederer (-/-)
Brigade: Generalmajor Sorbenberg (-1/-)
- Kienmeyer Nr. 8: HusR Valiant/Experienced/Pursuit +
- Erzherzog Johann Nr. 1 DragR Reliable/Experienced/Pursuit
- 6pdr Brigade Battery (8 guns) Foot /4 cannons/Medium
Brigade: Generalmajor Longueville (-/*)
- 1/Strauch Nr. 24 IR Reliable/Experienced/SK1
- 2/Strauch Nr. 24 IR Reliable/Experienced/SK1
- 1/Graf Bellegarde Nr. 44 IR Reliable/Experienced/SK1 +
- 2/Graf Bellegarde Nr. 44 IR Reliable/Experienced/SK1 +

2nd Division: Feldmarschal-lieutenant Furst Liechtenstein (-/-)
Brigade: Generalmajor Ennsbruck (-/-)
- 1/Kaunitz Nr. 20 IR Reliable/Experienced/SK1 +
- 2/Kaunitz Nr. 20 IR Reliable/Experienced/SK1 +
- 3/Kaunitz Nr. 20 IR Reliable/Experienced/SK1 +
- 1/W. Colloredo Nr. 56 IR Reliable/Experienced/SK1 +
- 2/W. Colloredo Nr. 56 IR Reliable/Experienced/SK1 +
- 3/W. Colloredo Nr. 56 IR Reliable/Experienced/SK1 +
- 6pdr Brigade Battery (8 guns) Foot /4 cannons/Medium

Reinforcements
Brigade: Generalmajor Meszerey (Reinforcements) (-/-)
- 1/Vogelsang Nr. 47 IR Reliable/Experienced/SK1 +
- 2/Vogelsang Nr. 47 IR Reliable/Experienced/SK1 +
- 1/Reuss Greitz Nr. 18 IR Reliable/Experienced/SK1 +
- 2/Reuss Greitz Nr. 18 IR Reliable/Experienced/SK1 +
- 6pdr Brigade Battery (8 guns)


Polish Forces: VIII (Polish) Corps.
Army Moral 36 Break point 12. 14 Battalions/2 Regiments/3 Batteries
Commander: GdD Prince Poniatowski (-/-)

26th Infantry Division Kamieniecki, Ludwik (+1/-)
Brigade: GdB Sierawski (+1/*)
- 1/1st [Polish] Regiment: Reliable/Experienced/SK2
- 2/1st [Polish] Regiment: Reliable/Experienced/SK2
Brigade: GdB Malachowski (+1/*)
- 1/12th [Polish] Regiment Reliable/Experienced/SK2
- 2/12th [Polish] Regiment Reliable/Experienced/SK2
- 1/15th [Polish] Regiment Reliable/Experienced/SK2
- 2/15th [Polish] Regiment Reliable/Experienced/SK2
Artillery
- 5th [Polish] Foot Artillery Battery Foot/3 cannons/Medium/1 Hw
- 7th [Polish] Foot Artillery Battery Foot/3 cannons/Medium/1 Hw

27th Light Cavalry Brigade GdB Uminski (-/-)
- 14th Cuirassier Regiment: Valiant/Experienced/Shock
- Krakus Cavalry Regiment: Reliable/Amateur/Pursuit

French Division GdD Lefol (-/-)
- 1/54th Line Regiment Reliable/Amateur/SK1
- 1/Erfurt infantry: Reliable/Amateur/SK1
- 2/Erfurt infantry Reliable/Amateur/SK1
- Batallion de Marche: Reliable/Amateur/SK1 +
- Division Battery Foot/3 cannons/Medium/1 How

Reinforcements
Brigade Aymard (51th div/IX Corps) (-/¶)
- 3/10th Légère Regiment Reliable/Amateur/SK1
- 2/21st Légère Regiment Reliable/Amateur/SK1
- 3/32nd Ligne Regiment Reliable/Amateur/SK1
- 2/58th Ligne Regiment Reliable/Amateur/SK1

I am now searching for a map of the area, and devising some optional rules.

Contador wins his third Tour de France

Alberto Contador won his third Tour de France, winning a largely ceremonial final stage Sunday from Longjumeau to Paris.

Contador, who was sipping a glass of champagne en route to the Champs-Elysees and held up three fingers to signal his probable third Tour win, extended his lead over nearest challenger Andy Schleck to 39 seconds in Saturday's time trial.

Contador was poised to join Greg LeMond, Louison Bobet and Philippe Thys as a three-time Tour champions. Lance Armstrong is the most successful Tour rider with seven consecutive wins, between 1999 and 2005.

Go Spain!

Connewitz: the new project

The hot summer did arrived at Valladolid (Central Spain). After some days with extreme temperatures, around 38ºC (100ºF), the saharian weather is giving us a small break. Time to start a new project!
The new battle is based on the combats fought during the first day of the Battle of Leipzig, 16 october 1813, in the area around Connewitz/Lösnitz/Dölitz. These villages were located in a very difficult area, swampy and wooded, on the banks of the Pleisse River and covered the right flank of the French forces located in the southern front of Leipzig.
Schwarzenberg, the Allied C-i-C, ordered the 2nd Armeeabteilung under GdK Merveldt, or Meerfeldt, (10 battalions, 9 squadrons) to take the right bank of the Pleisse to outflank the French forces in Mark-Kleeberg and Wachau.
The area was defended by the Provisional Division Lefol (3.5 battalions) and the 26th division (6 battalions) of the Poniatowski's Polish VII Corps, but the brigade Aymard (4 battalions) of the Augereau's IX Corps and the Curial's 2nd Old Guard Division (4 battalions of non-French Guards) also took part in the fight in a moment or another.
I'll try to adjust these forces to the Lasalle requirements as well as to draw a map (fictitcious or real) to take into account all the characteristics of the fight.

I want to acknowledge again the efforts of my good friend Armand d'Arc. He's always searching for new battles!

Bibliography
- Maude F.N., The Campaign of Leipzig, Leonaur Ltd, 2007
- Nafziger G., Napoleon at Leipzig. The Battle of Nations 1813, Emperor's Press, 1996
- Plotho C. von, Relation de la Bataille de Leipzig, Adamant Media, 2006
- Smith D., The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book, Greenhill Books, 1998
- Smith D., 1813 - Leipzig: Napoleon and the Battle of the Nations, Greenhill Books, 2001

The issue No. 8 of ALKAID

The issue No. 8 of ALKAID REVISTA MULTITEMÁTICA is out from July 15. The magazine is devoted to the interaction amongst science, literature, poetry, history, so you can always find an article devoted to one of your interests!
Issue No.8 is loaded with articles related, in a way or another, with our hobby:
- 'The Parallel March' by Luis Torrecilla, about the re-enactement of the combats around Castrejón and Cañizal and the famous parallel marching (21th July, 1812) of Marmont and Wellington towards their rendez-vous at Salamanca.
- "The Clausewitz's dream" by Francisco. J Segovia, about the ficticious reveries of the famous military theorist in the eve of the batle of Waterloo.
- "The Museum of Miniatures of the Citadel of Jaca" by Diego Fernández. The description of the Museum of the Jaca's citadel, housing an impressive collection with more than 35,000 lead figures at 1/72 scale, depicting in several diorams the evolution of the war along the centuries.
Moreover there are articles about Geographical Information Systems, The Bhopal tragedy, trekking at Pyrenees,Turkish architecture, etc.

The magazine is in Spanish and is available by subscription. Go to ALKAID EDICIONES web site, http://www.alkaidediciones.com/, and download the Subscription Form or contact me in this e-mail address: rpardoalmudi@gmail.com

The Napoleon Series needs you!!!

Taken from Napoleon-Series.org

La Batterie des Hommes sans Peur 2010

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The final scene of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner
Enjoy!